Post 5: Jumping ship

During law school, you’re often told how great and multifaceted a law degree is. You’re given the image that it can take you anywhere. You will be told that, should you wish, you’re well placed for careers outside the legal sector including in business and banks, corporate and advisory, government and politics, journalism and the media. You find these representations assuring, and feel ahead of the crowd.

The reality is, you are an entry level candidate for any career. If you enter private practice, you do so as a graduate. If you join the graduate program at a bank, consulting group, government department or anywhere else, your law degree doesn’t set you apart at all. You aren’t ahead of any non law applicant. Should you end up in a graduate program outside the law, you won’t get paid higher than non law graduates or receive any sort of special treatment you feel entitled to.

This doesn’t change much even if you spend some years as a lawyer in private practice. The experience would assist you in getting other legal jobs such as an in house or government lawyer/legal officer position, but it stops there.

Around the 2-4 years PQE mark, many young lawyers move out of the law altogether, and take an unanticipated pay cut due to their ignorance of where they’re placed in the non legal market. What does one do when they overhear a junior workplace relations lawyer at a cafe tell a friend: “I’m pursuing a business development consulting position, I’m feeling really good about it. My experience here should put me ahead of the crowd, don’t you think?” Take a sip of your coffee and try not to choke.

Post 2: Horses for courses

If you are in legal circles, you will find there are a lot of lawyers who complain about their jobs and how it takes over their lives. I find this complaining to be more common amongst junior and new lawyers. In fact, I haven’t come across a senior lawyer complaining about their job (maybe the complain to other seniors).

The law is such a vast profession, it is impossible to practice in each area. To a lot of people who aren’t in the law, the law involves dramatic court room scenes, wigs and gowns. However, the great majority of lawyers aren’t barristers (advocates/trial lawyers) who appear in court arguing a case. The practice of law covers a wide spectrum including: family law, criminal law, corporate law, commercial law, estate & elder law, property & construction law, employment & industrial law, human rights law and the list goes on. Further, within these areas of law, you have numerous specialisations. For instance, there are corporate lawyers who spend their entire careers doing Mergers & Aquisitions alone. There are family lawyers who specialise in child custody issues and won’t advise on division of matrimonial property. Within commercial law you’ll have lawyers specialising in business structures and trusts. In property law you’ll have lawyers who only take instructions in commercial leasing. You will find criminal lawyers who only deal with motor vehicle and traffic offences. In the 21st Century Australia, you won’t find a lawyer who can take instructions in all areas of law.

Given the way the law has become, a lot young lawyers enter an area of practice not knowing what it entails. I hear this over and over again – “I wish I knew before”. The best way, I believe, to over come this is to try and work in as many law firms as possible during your time at law school. At university, you will find an area of study enjoyable. For instance, you might enjoy studying criminal law – however, you might find the practice of defending people charged with offences as depressing. On the other hand, studying property law might have been boring, but practicing in property law might be enjoyable. By working across a number of firms in different areas, you are most likely to get a good insight into what a practice area entails and how well it sits with you.

There is always the question of earning a decent living. Some areas of law pay a lot more than other areas. One of my colleagues really enjoyed human rights law and working a community based legal clinic. She loved representing disadvantaged people, refugess, low income earners etc… The practice was very rewarding and really worked for her. However, she was having a hard time making ends meet. A lot of community clinics operate on donations and government grants, and aren’t able to compete with salaries in the private sector. She eventually left and started working on commercial matters; she hates commercial work but she’s in a much better financial position. And for her, that is what matters at the moment – financial security.

This is a very common situation amongst many lawyers (and perhaps other professionals) – doing something because of the pay as opposed to the enjoyment. In my opinion, the best way to navigate this problem is for law schools to assist in providing accurate representations involving the practice of law and how it operates in this day and age. Include compulsory placements in the faculty syllabus so people get a realistic idea of the profession. There currently are vacation placements offered by firms, but these don’t go far enough. A lot of vacation workers find themselves researching, collating documents, photocopying etc… as opposed to getting involved in the nitty gritty.

For people who are in a position where they have to decide which area of law they want to start in, I’d say do something that you’ve done thorough research on. Don’t go into a practice area not knowing what it is.